A petition and puppies, reads for the day, the crunch factor, and ending with a song
November 10, 2023
What’s Going On?
Saturday, November 11, 2023, is Veterans Day, a day to honor all who have served in the United States military. Here is what you should know about it:
5 Facts to Know About Veterans Day > U.S. Department of Defense > Story
From the above webpage:
Veterans Day honors all of those who have served the country in war or peace — dead or alive — although it’s largely intended to thank living Veterans for their sacrifices.
See the following What to Do section for ways to help our Veterans.
But first, here is something I just learned today:
According to the Veterans Affairs Style Guide, ‘veteran’ is always capitalized as ‘Veteran,’ not unlike the DoD’s insistence that Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines are always capitalized as well.
By contrast, the Associated Press Style Guide (the “Guide” is a short “cheat sheet”) does not consider ‘veteran’ a proper noun or formal title worthy of consistent capitalization when referring to a former service member.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/associated-press-style-guide-veteran-capitalization/
As you can see, while I suppose I should be following the Associated Press guidelines, I am instead honoring the recommendation of the Veterans Affairs Style Guide.
Also, contrary to all things AP, including their comprehensive Associated Press Stylebook, I am a dedicated user of the (controversial to some) serial or Oxford comma.
Definitely an Oxford Comma gal, here. 😉
What to Do?
I came across Puppies Behind Bars on a number of “best nonprofits for Veterans” lists and like its multifaceted strategy. The pups help the inmates who train them, and then the dogs help, among other sectors, veterans who need service dogs.
Here is the mission statement from the Puppies Behind Bars homepage:
Puppies Behind Bars (PBB) trains incarcerated individuals to raise service dogs for wounded war veterans and first responders, facility dogs for police departments, and explosive-detection canines for law enforcement. Puppies enter prison at the age of 8 weeks and live with their incarcerated puppy-raisers for approximately 24 months. As the puppies mature into well-loved, well-behaved dogs, their raisers learn what it means to contribute to society rather than take from it.
To learn about their work with Veterans, see:
DOG TAGS®
SERVICE DOGS FOR THOSE WHO'VE SERVED US®
While I am not seeing a way to donate toward just the Veteran program, you can find ways to support this organization by going to:
https://puppiesbehindbars.com/make-a-donation/
Greatergood.org is also a great (no pun intended) organization that offers many ways to help our veterans. Here are some examples:
Send Good Packs to Veterans & Pets Experiencing Homelessness
For my multitasking readers, start your holiday shopping with Greater Good! GreaterGood® Stores - Shop To Help People, Pets & Planet Once on the shopping page, go to where it says Shop to fund: People, Pets, Planet furthest left on the top menu bar and select Veteran Services from the dropdown menu. Then: Start shopping!
Sign a petition to the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs encouraging it to "Put An End To Veteran Suicides."
What to Read?
Staying on the theme of honoring Veterans, I found two lists of suggested reading on the subject. Here they are:
A Veterans Day Reading List, by Joshua Rothman published in 2013 by The New Yorker, one of my favorite magazines, and
WAR BOOKS: A READING LIST INSPIRED BY VETERANS DAY by various staff and on the website of the The Modern War Institute at West Point
Disclaimer: I have not read any of these books but I trust these sources to make excellent recommendations.
If you are planning to purchase a book, here is my spiel:
To purchase a used copy, check More Than Words first, then Thriftbooks.
To support the author of the book and independent bookstores, go to https://bookshop.org/a/87980/9780312422271.
And, as I always say, there is a good chance you can find what you want at your local library.
What's Cooking?
If you love crispy fried foods but not the mess or calories, you need to check this out. I am sharing a recipe for chicken tenders, but it will now be my go-to recipe for anything that benefits from a tasty and crispy coating.
The technique used in Truly Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Tenders is truly brilliant. Here it is in a nutshell:
Pre-toast the panko. See the recipe for details on that.
While that is going on, mix egg, flour, mustard (I used the suggested dijon), flour, salt,* and pepper together, add the chicken tenders, and toss with tongs to coat.
*(Did you notice the Oxford comma? 😊)
Next, put the toasted panko in a good-sized bowl and then, a bit different than Nagi’s technique, toss the coating-covered chicken tenders into the bowl of panko and toss and mix until the tenders are evenly covered with the panko.
Then, bake in the oven or air-fry as desired. Again, see the recipe for details.
Thank you, Nagi! I will be using this technique from now on whenever I want to make any “fried” food.
What Else?
Back to Veteran’s Day. I learned about the poem “In Flanders Field” by John McCrae via singing the gorgeous arrangement by John Tilley that my friend Jeff Workman, as then choir director, brought to the attention of the Wakefield UU choir (Wakefield MA). The music is beautiful. You can hear a most excellent rendition via the recording, linked below, that I found on YouTube. This song, and even reading just the words, makes me cry every time. Take a listen:
Here are the words of the poem:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields
You can read about the poem and its author here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields
Thank you for reading or subscribing to my newsletter!
Wendy
